| We are in a recession. The recession and its effects | | | | attempt to jockey for a better advantage. Customer |
| are here to stay for at least two more quarters. In | | | | data tells them of important buying patterns that if |
| most verticals, customers are being cautious with their | | | | correctly predicted, can be exploited to increase |
| money and investments. This means that the pie is | | | | market-share. Operational data identifies areas of |
| smaller, and that competition for this finite share is | | | | inefficiency and can help companies achieve more |
| more intense. | | | | with fewer resources. Without this insight, it is virtually |
| Things have become so depressing that in the US, | | | | impossible to remain competitive: if you don't make the |
| some retailers, are simply throwing in the towel rather | | | | effort, rest assured one of your competitors will. How |
| than file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection and | | | | to Choose an Optimal BI Solution in Recession-Time? |
| trying to slog through the recession. | | | | Companies must realize that more data and a greater |
| That's essentially what happened to several American | | | | investment on BI are not necessarily better--as in a |
| retailer's during the past several months. With the | | | | straight-line equation. Just like all resources, data must |
| economy in rougher shape than the clearance rack at | | | | be handled efficiently and should provide a good value |
| retailer's stores, many retailers may seriously weigh the | | | | to the organization; there is a point past which the |
| merits of this gloomy business strategy in the months | | | | marginal return of analyzing more data or investing |
| to come. | | | | more in BI rapidly tapers off. The key in this regard is |
| "The reason we're seeing liquidation rather than | | | | finding that point and operating as close to it as |
| bankruptcy from so many retailers is because people | | | | possible. When every decision-maker in an |
| are hopeless," Dean Baker, co-director of the Center | | | | organization has access to meaningful data through an |
| for Economic and Policy Research, recently told | | | | efficient BI solution that fits the company's budget, the |
| Newsweek. "We're still looking at a very bad year in | | | | amount of leverage that BI brings will be near optimal. |
| 2009 and probably most of 2010, so it's very difficult to | | | | In particular, recession-time BI needs to have the |
| be optimistic about reorganizing and coming out of it | | | | following characteristics: |
| stronger." | | | | Be consolidated and reliable - For small and midsize |
| To be fair, some sectors of the retail industry have | | | | companies working with a modest amount of data, it |
| been oversupplied. This is, after all, a nation that | | | | generally means having a management team choose |
| boasted of 2 million retailers before the recession | | | | the preferred set of numbers and verify their reliability. |
| started, which roughly translates to one retailer for | | | | Then, the team would work with the system |
| every 150 people, according to research from Tony | | | | administrator to make data terminology consistent and |
| Gao, an assistant professor of marketing at | | | | understandable by nontechnical end-users, for example |
| Northeastern University. | | | | labeling table columns along something that makes |
| During times such as this, most companies fall within | | | | immediate sense to the personnel conducting the |
| two categories. There are those who play | | | | analysis. |
| defensively--cutting staff, cutting costs, concentrating | | | | Should not be expensive but, should provide a good |
| on the highest-revenue product lines and customers, | | | | value for the investment - All most all BI Solutions |
| and hoping for the bad times to go away. Smarter | | | | attracts many costs like licensing costs, upfront costs, |
| companies, however, realize that the time when their | | | | new hardware and IT resources to maintain the |
| competitors are hurting may be the most opportune | | | | application. Access anywhere: Time is money and |
| moment to go on the offense and gain market share. | | | | access to information and its analysis plays a major |
| The second kind of company is one that will not only | | | | role during lean times. A decision maker must have the |
| perform better during the recession, but come out of it | | | | freedom to access information every where to bring in |
| as a leader in their market. How does this kind of | | | | better and larger deals. |
| company go about such strategy? | | | | Be delivered quickly and efficiently - The development |
| The first thing is to aggressively identify areas of | | | | & deployment time of a BI Solution must be as |
| improvement, as well as redefine and strengthen one's | | | | low as possible (4-8 weeks) to enjoy quick ROI, double |
| positioning. Then, corrective measures must be put in | | | | the sales, and optimize operational costs. |
| place to both eliminate inefficiencies and exploit | | | | Empowering as many employees as realistically |
| untapped potential, aiming for excellence rather than | | | | possible within the organization - In a time of recession, |
| for sufficiency. | | | | most companies operate on a bare-bone crew. This |
| So in this environment, a pertinent question arises: Can | | | | means that virtually every employee must own his |
| IT best practices and retail-specific technology | | | | piece of the business and think and act like an |
| applications help weather this storm? | | | | entrepreneur in his area-and often beyond. But this |
| The positive effect of this environment is that it is | | | | step must be taken carefully: turn every employee into |
| during economic hard times that smart organizations | | | | a decision-maker without giving him the right tools to |
| take a fresh look at the fundamentals of their business. | | | | make better decisions, and the company may fall into |
| They become more aware of their strengths and | | | | a state of quasi-anarchy. |
| weaknesses, refocusing their positioning and | | | | Can On-Demand BI Solutions suffice the above |
| attempting to better understand their vertical. This is | | | | needs? |
| because a recession--regardless of vertical--does not | | | | Today, with different data sources being used and |
| altogether stop sales, but forces companies to | | | | with cloud-computing being increasingly popular, the |
| compete harder for the reduced volume. Organizations | | | | benefits of on-demand BI Solutions are even stronger |
| that do best can not only withstand the recession, but | | | | and more varied. |
| emerge from it much stronger than their competitors. In | | | | On-demand BI Solutions are breathing new life into the |
| this sense, a recession is an opportunity to gain a | | | | software industry by offering significant advantages to |
| competitive advantage in the short and medium term. | | | | users. |
| To understand their vertical better, companies must | | | | Using On-Demand BI to seek excellence during a |
| make the most out of their data--which is where | | | | Recession |
| business intelligence (BI) plays a vital role. | | | | As we have seen, in a time of recession most |
| The Role of BI in a Recession | | | | companies fall within two categories: those that play |
| Even from an economic perspective, the law of | | | | defensive as they wait out the hard times hoping for |
| survival of the fittest works most transparently during | | | | the best; and those who use the opportunity to |
| lean times. To survive in the retail industry, a strong | | | | aggressively improve their processes and become a |
| command of data is essential, which is where Business | | | | leader in their market. To fall within the second |
| Intelligence becomes a necessity rather than a luxury. | | | | category, business intelligence (BI) must be deployed |
| For companies, this means primarily making the | | | | for the specific purpose of understanding their vertical |
| best-possible use of data through BI. Competitive data | | | | and their business better, cutting costs and improving |
| helps organizations reposition themselves in their | | | | quality--and the results will start to show. |